Bharti Airtel ends nearly 3% down on bourses

Bharti Airtel's scrip on Thursday fell by nearly 3 per cent, after the Supreme Court restrained the telecom company from providing 3G roaming services to new customers in seven circles where it does not have licence to do so.

Following the news, shares of the company tanked 3.53 per cent to Rs 271.7 on the BSE during the day.

It later closed at Rs 275.15, down 2.31 per cent from its previous close.

At National Stock Exchange, the stock ended 2.7 per cent lower at Rs 274.05.

The scrip was the biggest loser on both Sensex and Nifty.

The apex court also said no coercive steps will be taken on the issue of penalty raised against Airtel for allegedly illegally providing 3G

services.

The seven circles where Airtel does not have licence to provide 3G services are Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh East and Kerala.

The Department of Telecommunications on March 15 issued a notification restraining Bharti from providing 3G intra-circle roaming facilities in seven circles where it did not have the spectrum and also levied penalty of Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) (Rs 50 crore or Rs 500 million per circle) for alleged violation of the licence terms and conditions.

On March 18, a single-judge bench of the High Court had stayed the operation of the notification.